


Collision

by yayhwan



Category: VIXX
Genre: Accidents, Athletes, Attempt at humour, Football | Soccer, M/M, Mild Injuries, Multi, cursing, figure skating, some of the tagged characters are only mentioned once or twice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-02-27 20:31:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13256058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yayhwan/pseuds/yayhwan
Summary: Han Sanghyuk is training to become one of the best football players in the world, or at least in Korea. But due to unforeseen circumstances (namely the lethal combination of Hongbin, Sanghyuk and the game Overwatch), he's late for practice. He has to hurry in order not to get brutally murdered by his intimidating coach Jung Taekwoon.However, something else – or rather, someone else – crosses his path instead.





	1. Record time

**Author's Note:**

> If I'm totally honest with you (which I usually am), I'm not entirely sure where I'm gonna go with this story, so the relationships and tags are subject to change as I continue.
> 
> This is also the first time that I created a work skin in order to show the text messages that are sent. I really hope you'll turn on Creator's Style in order to see it! If not, I hope everything still makes sense without Creator's Style enabled.

His alarm goes off once, twice— He slams his hand on the snooze button and turns around, pulling the covers over his face as he groans softly. He isn’t about to get up. Not yet. 

Hell, maybe not ever.

Sanghyuk’s muscles still feel sore from practice the other day and the gaming marathon with Hongbin last night had meant that he went to bed at an unreasonable hour in the early morning. Now it’s somewhat-later morning and Sanghyuk just can’t be bothered to move. He’s exhausted. 

He huffs, wondering how long it will take for his alarm to go off again. He hasn’t snoozed in months; too scared of his coach to even _dream_ of being late. Well… he has dreamt about it: turning up late for practice has been his number one nightmare since he began training under the former prof-player. Who could blame him, though? It’s _Jung Taekwoon_.

Lately Sanghyuk believes that he’s started to learn how to push his coach’s buttons _just_ enough to get him frustrated or embarrassed, but not enough to warrant any physical harm to come to him as payback. He’s grown in size considerably since his first training too, which means he could probably fling Taekwoon around like a rag doll if he wanted to. It also helps being the star player of the team, but Sanghyuk doesn’t like to brag.

He wakes up to the excessive vibrations of his phone to indicate an onslaught of messages. As he rubs his eyes and sits up in bed, he pulls his phone onto his lap and is greeted with a single message from his coach.

**Jung Taekwoon** \- Today, 07:31 AM  
You're not here.  


Followed by Yook Sungjae, one of the teammates he’s grown closest to, telling him to get his ass to practice.

**Sungjae :D** \- Today, 07:34 AM  
Where are you?  
Sanghyuk-ah. You're in trouble.  
Get to practice. Please, or he might kill me instead...  


**Sungjae :D** \- Today, 08:09 AM  
Yah! Hyuk-ah!  
Where the hell are you?  
Did you forget about practice?  
Hurry up!  
!!!!!!  
!!!!!!  
!!!!!!  
HAN SANGHYUK?!  


Blood drains from his face as he checks the time: it’s nearly a quarter past eight. He launches himself out of bed and pulls his recently cleaned practice clothes from the drying rack to get dressed (who cares about changing there, he doesn’t have time!), he forgoes washing his face, eating breakfast and bringing a clean pair of clothing for after practice in favour of being on his bike within ten minutes.

Before he leaves, he messages Sungjae.

On my way.

He’s already breathless when he starts to cycle to the football field, hoping to make it there in record time. It’s freezing outside and the cold is biting at the exposed skin on his knees and arms. He forgot to throw on a coat. He forgot that it was still basically winter.

Sanghyuk takes a shortcut through a park, blind to the fact that he’s being a safety hazard on the road for pedestrians, cyclists, dogs, and even cars. He nearly bumps into the latter as he turns a corner, waves briefly to indicate that he’s okay before continuing to speed through the streets of Seoul.

His breath is visible in the cold air, but Sanghyuk can barely see it form a cloud before he’s cycled another few meters further. Going uphill proves to be a battle, but by now at least Sanghyuk doesn’t feel the cold anymore. He’s too busy working his ass off in hopes that he won’t get brutally murdered by Jung Taekwoon upon arrival at the football field.

Going downhill is like a breath of fresh air, except it’s the ice cold wind hitting him in the face. But Sanghyuk isn’t complaining; at least not verbally, because his lips are basically frozen at that point.

It’s only when he’s started to paddle again that he realizes that the traffic light at the bottom of the hill isn’t green. He looks around, not seeing any pedestrians, which means that he might be able to make the right turn, even if he technically is supposed to stop. He’s just rounding the corner when he realizes his mistake.

There’s a jogger.

Sanghyuk pulls the brakes and turns some more in hopes of slowing down enough to let the jogger pass safely, but the tires slip and his bike is moved out from under him. As he hits the concrete, he sees the jogger get knocked off his feet by his bike.

Fuck.

He’s lying there; his chest heaving, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he stares up to the cloudy sky above Seoul. He survived. That’s something, at least. Maybe not the best outcome, seeing as he’ll get murdered by his coach, but that’s a concern for later.

A sigh escapes him. He slowly sits up, blinking as the world starts turning and pressure begins to build up behind his eyes. He gasps for air as he notices that the jogger is still down; before he knows it, he’s crawling to his feet and stumbling over to the guy. He looks about his age, Sanghyuk thinks. 

“Are—Are you okay?” He stammers, dropping himself on his knees next to the stranger and reaching out to his shoulder tentatively.

“Yah…” The guy mumbles, pushing himself up to face Sanghyuk, “Are you crazy?”

“I’m sorry… I was in a hurry and I wasn’t—”

“You’re definitely crazy. Shouldn’t you be more concerned with yourself?”

When the guy reaches out to Sanghyuk’s face, he can’t help but shy away from the touch a little. 

The stranger’s hand stills in the air. “You’re bleeding.” He explains, reaching over to swipe two fingers over Sanghyuk’s temple, coming back with some blood. “Why are you worried about me, when you’re hurt?”

“I—what?” is all Sanghyuk says, only now registering the pounding of his head close to where the guy had touched his temple.

“C’mon, let’s go to the emergency room and get you checked out.” The stranger says. He pushes himself up his feet, but the second he does that, he yelps and lands his butt back on the concrete.

“What—What’s wrong?” Sanghyuk mumbles, eyes shifting to where the guy is pulling up the leg of his jogging pants a little to examine his left ankle. Then Sanghyuk says, in a quiet whisper, “Is it… broken?” 

“I don’t think so.” The stranger assures him, a warm smile crossing his lips. “Seems like we both need to go to the emergency room, huh?”

“Yeah…” Sanghyuk crawls up onto his feet again and reaches out to the stranger, who accepts his help and hoists himself up, making sure not to put too much weight on his bad foot. 

When the guy wants to start walking, Sanghyuk stops him.

“Wait…” He releases the stranger and jogs over to his bike, which is lying a few meters away from them. He pulls it back on its wheels and brings it over to the stranger, “Here, sit down.”

The guy looks at him with wide, sparkling eyes; he can feel his face heating up under the stranger’s stare, even though it’s below zero out. 

“I should, uh… I should call my coach.” He mutters, more to himself than to the guy on his bike, as they start making their way to the closest emergency room.

“Same.” The stranger says under his breath, but Sanghyuk isn’t listening. He’s too terrified to hear what Taekwoon has to say about his idiotic behaviour. He will surely get in trouble for all of this. Still, he presses number one on speed dial and holds his phone to his ear.

“Sanghyuk,” The soft voice on the other end of the line says as the call is answered, “where are you?”

“I’m…” He hesitates for a second, wondering if it would be worth the lie. He decides that it’s not. “I’m on my way to the emergency room.” 

Silence.

“Hello?”

The call gets ended. He stares at his phone, blinking at it a few times before looking over to the stranger again.


	2. Pretty clumsy

Sanghyuk is sitting on a hospital bed. He’s still wearing his practice clothes, although he did pull the blanket over his legs a little; he’s still shaking from the cold and the shock.

The bed next to him is occupied by the stranger. Somehow the guy had known exactly what to do when they entered the emergency room, enthusiastically greeting all of the hospital staff by name as they passed by. Sanghyuk just trailed after him like a puppy after its owner.

A nurse walks over to wipe some of the blood off Sanghyuk’s face and bandage his head. Meanwhile a doctor enters. Upon making eye contact with the stranger, he sighs deeply: “Again?” 

The doctor is tall, his skin slightly darker than Sanghyuk’s. He fills out the doctor’s coat well, his muscular arms and chest visible even through multiple layers of fabric. 

Sanghyuk swallows thickly. 

“Wonshikkie!” The stranger claps his hands excitedly and waits for the doctor to reach his side before he grabs the doctor’s hand with both of his own, pulling them against his chest. “Shikkie, please save me. My ankle hurts so, so bad.” The pout on the stranger’s face is ridiculous and adorable at the same time. 

The doctor rolls his eyes and moves to the end of the stranger’s bed to check on his ankle. His fingers shift over the stranger’s swollen skin, feeling for fractures. Then both his hands hold the stranger’s foot, moving it carefully. The stranger is pulling all kinds of faces, whining softly at every single thing the doctor does, but the doctor pays him no mind.

“Just a bad sprain, as far as I can tell without a photo.” The doctor declares, and relief washes over Sanghyuk. “What did you do now, hyung?”

“I didn’t to _anything_.” The stranger tells him indignantly, crossing his arms and suddenly looking a lot like a grumpy kid.

“Just be careful, okay?” The doctor laughs, reaching over to ruffle the stranger’s hair; Sanghyuk can see the guy relax at the touch. Then, the doctor leaves again, waving to the stranger over his shoulder as a goodbye.

“He’s so mean…” The stranger mumbles, pouting again.

When Sanghyuk clears his throat, the guy’s large, bright eyes focus on him. “I’m really sorry again for hitting you with my bike…” He tells the stranger.

The guy waves his concerns away easily. “No worries,” He replies, a broad smile crossing his lips, “I’m a pretty clumsy guy, so it’s nothing new. I’ve sprained my ankles so many times that I’m surprised at myself when I _don’t_ have to walk with a limp.”

Sanghyuk stares at him with a look of disbelief.

He huffs out a laugh and adds: “Seriously, I’m fine. Why were you cycling through Seoul as if you were being chased by the zombies from Train to Busan though?”

“I slept through my alarm, so I was late for practice.” There’s no need to tell a stranger about the hours he spent losing to Hongbin as they played Overwatch, and the lack of sleep it had resulted in. “And believe me, my coach is a lot scarier than those zombies.” 

“So you figured you’d just cause a little accident and use that as your excuse?” The stranger supplies with a playfulness in his voice that Sanghyuk hasn’t heard before.

“Something like that.” Sanghyuk replies with a smirk. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“I guess we’ll see about that.” The stranger laughs, “I’m Jaehwan by the way.”

“Sanghyuk.” He replies, “Nice to meet you.”

“You too, Hyoggie~” Jaehwan sing-songs.

“Even if I almost caused your death?” Sanghyuk questions with an apologetic smile on his face.

“Even then!”

His smile widens a little. Jaehwan is handsome; he’s got a pretty face with a prominent, but cute nose. His body is a lot leaner than Sanghyuk’s, but it looks good on him. And you can still see that he’s toned, even if he’s slim. There’s something soft about Jaehwan, and clearly the man’s natural aegyo is a force to be reckoned with.

Jaehwan catches his gaze and tilts his head to the side in silent question.

Sanghyuk quickly shakes his head, “No, nothing… Just— How old are you?”

“Older than you.” Jaehwan replies with a grin.

He frowns. “How do you know?” And then it dawns on him…

When they first entered the emergency room, Jaehwan asked him for his ID, so that he could take care of at least part of the paperwork in his stead. That’s where he must have seen Sanghyuk’s date of birth. 

“Ah hyung…” Sanghyuk sighs, “That’s not fair.”

Jaehwan just laughs at him and shrugs his shoulders.

He decides not to press it for now. Instead, Sanghyuk rubs his hands over his arms to try and heat himself up. However hard he’d cycled before, the slow walk to the emergency room meant that he’d gotten cold again.

“Aww, is our Hyoggie cold?” Jaehwan asks, gathering his blankets to give to him.

But before he can, a voice thunders through the emergency room: “Yah! Lee Jaehwan!”

Jaehwan cringes and pulls up the blankets to hide from the tall man who has entered.

“I cannot _believe_ you!” The man says, marching over and pulling the blankets out of Jaehwan’s grip; looking him over with frustration and worry. “One week! One week without injuries. Is that too much to ask?”

“But _hyung_ …” Jaehwan whines softly.

“I don’t want to hear any of it! Where’s Wonshik? How bad is it this time?”

“Just a sprain—” 

A deep sigh escapes the older man as he takes a seat on the side of Jaehwan’s bed, reaching out to wipe a stand of hair out of his face. “Please be more careful, will you? Or do you want to die by my hands?”

“But Hakyeon-hyung…” Jaehwan mumbles, “It wasn’t my fault this time. It was an accident.”

Hakyeon raises one eyebrow. Sanghyuk tries to make himself a little smaller when Jaehwan’s eyes shift to him for just a second, and Hakyeon’s gaze follows.

“You?” Hakyeon asks, looking at him as if he’s ready to come over and beat Sanghyuk to a pulp. Physically, Hakyeon doesn’t seem all too intimidating, but there’s something in his voice that scares Sanghyuk enough to not want to reply. “What did you do to my precious boy?”

Sanghyuk avoids Hakyeon’s gaze as if his icy stare could turn him into stone.

Jaehwan speaks up: “Ah, hyung—”

“Sanghyuk-ah.” A quiet voice breaks Sanghyuk’s focus on the blankets in front of him and he looks up to find Taekwoon standing a few meters away from his hospital bed. Sanghyuk quickly looks over to Hakyeon, hoping to be turned into a statue so that he won’t have to deal with the wrath of Jung Taekwoon; it doesn’t work. Taekwoon walks over and reaches out to tilt Sanghyuk’s face to the right to inspect the bandages around his head. 

“Coach…” Sanghyuk mumbles, unsure how to continue from there.

“Are you okay?” Taekwoon asks as his eyes wander from Sanghyuk’s torso to his trembling feet under the blanket. 

Sanghyuk nods a little.

Taekwoon shrugs off his warm winter coat and drapes it over Sanghyuk’s shoulders, pulling it around him a little tighter before he turns his focus to Hakyeon. “Follow me.” And with that, Taekwoon turns around and walks out of the emergency room.

Hakyeon follows without a word; Jaehwan and Sanghyuk exchange a glance, frowning at the scene that is unfolding before their very eyes.

“You think coach is gonna beat him up?” Sanghyuk mutters.

“Hakyeon-hyung can take him.” Jaehwan replies, scratching the back of his neck contemplatively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you guys think!   
> Please don't hesitate to leave kudos or comments~


	3. Long pass

“Hyung, what did you and that coach talk about?” Jaehwan asks when Hakyeon returns. Sanghyuk cranes his neck to see if Taekwoon is coming back too. It doesn’t seem like it.

“You’re an idiot.” Hakyeon mutters under his breath, shaking his head as he helps Jaehwan out of the hospital bed and onto his feet.

“Why~” Jaehwan asks innocently.

A small smile tugs at Hakyeon’s lips. “I can’t believe you decided to befriend the kid who made you sprain your ankle.” He sighs. “Jaehwan-ah, you know we don’t have time for this.”

“I know, but Hyoggie couldn’t really help it either.” Jaehwan says as he wraps his arm around his hyung’s shoulder.

Sanghyuk observes them quietly while Jaehwan limps away from the bed a little with Hakyeon’s support. Hakyeon zips up the other’s coat and wraps his own scarf around Jaehwan’s neck to keep him warm. Without thinking, Sanghyuk pulls Taekwoon’s coat tighter around himself as well.

The two men head over to the desk at the centre of the emergency room, filling out the last bits of paperwork. Hakyeon is keeping a firm hold on Jaehwan while they stand there, Jaehwan’s bad foot only lightly resting on his toes while his full weight is placed on the leg without the sprained ankle.

Before they exit the emergency room, Jaehwan turns around and peeks at Sanghyuk. He waves at him with a bright smile. Jaehwan looks adorable, all wrapped up in the scarf and coat.

Sanghyuk smiles back shyly and waves too. He can’t help but hope that this won’t be the last time he’ll see this cute hyung, but seriously… what are the chances that he and Jaehwan will ever meet again? Sanghyuk pouts at the thought.

Somehow the emergency room is a lot more lonely without Jaehwan around. Sanghyuk wonders briefly if the doctor can’t return to maybe check up on him again or something. He doesn’t know if Taekwoon will be very good company, since he’s still waiting for the punishment he deserves for not being at practice in time.

His coach returns with spare sweatpants and an extra jacket, giving them to Sanghyuk to put on as Taekwoon retrieves his own coat from Sanghyuk. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, coach.” Sanghyuk assures him. He does have a headache, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. He gets out of bed and sways on his leg a little when he has to balance his weight on one foot, pulling the sweatpants on over his practice clothes.

“Alright. Let’s get to the field then.” _You’ve missed a lot of practice already_ goes unspoken, but it’s implied.

They head to the desk too and, together with Taekwoon, Sanghyuk fills out some last forms. Then the nurse hands him a small piece of paper with a secretive smile. He pushes it in his pocket, because Taekwoon has already grabbed his arm and is leading him out of the hospital.

“I suggest we take the bus. You can pick up your bike some other time.”

Sanghyuk nods.

“Let’s just work extra hard for the remainder of practice, alright?” Taekwoon tells him.

He looks up to his coach, wondering if that was all Taekwoon would say about it. That was… unexpected, to say the least. Taekwoon is a pretty intimidating man and he really, really dislikes it when people waste his time, which is what Sanghyuk has done.

“Thanks, coach.” Sanghyuk mumbles, “I’m sorry for causing trouble.”

“Just don’t do it again.”

“Yes, coach.”

While they’re on the bus, Sanghyuk unfolds the note he’d received at the emergency room. A broad smile crosses his lips when he reads it.

Let’s see each other again soon~ I’m jaehwany0406 on KakaoTalk, you'll add me, right? :DD

He pulls out his phone and adds Jaehwan with his own KakaoTalk account (HSangHyuk). However, his fingers linger above the keyboard on his phone once he’s pulled up the chat function. What the hell is he supposed to say?

‘I’m glad we met, even if we both got hurt’ or ‘sorry again for hitting you with my bike’?

Sanghyuk groans and hits his head against the back of the seat in front of him. If Taekwoon thinks his actions are strange, he doesn’t say anything. Sanghyuk assumes that his coach probably has one eyebrow raised at him, but it’s not like he can see Taekwoon’s face as he hits his head against the seat again.

His phone buzzes and Sanghyuk jerks up: it’s a message from Jaehwan. He holds his breath as he clicks the notification to read the message.

**jaehwany0406** – Today, 11:19 AM  
Hyoggie~ You added me!

He replies as fast as his shaking fingers allow him to.

Of course I did! I received your message well, hyung.

**jaehwany0406** – Today, 11:22 AM  
I'm glad!!!!! I’m home now ≧ω≦  
Are you still at the emergency room?

No, I’m headed to the football field with my coach. Can’t miss practice.

**jaehwany0406** – Today, 11:24 AM  
(꒪⌓꒪) So you’re okay??

I'm okay, hyung. Don't worry :)

**jaehwany0406** – Today, 11:27 AM  
Hyoggie, fighting~ ٩(●ᴗ●)۶

Sanghyuk laughs at all the emoticons Jaehwan uses. He used to think those kind of things were incredibly childish, but when Jaehwan uses them… it’s kind of adorable.

The bus comes to a stop and Taekwoon stands up. Sanghyuk quickly follows, getting out of the bus and walking along with Taekwoon, to the field they usually use for practice. Sungjae and the others are running up and down the field, passing one ball to each other as they go. 

A broad smile crosses his lips. He really does love football, so he doesn’t wait around: he jogs over to the others, quickly doing some warm-up exercises in order to start practicing for real.

It doesn’t take all too long for his muscles to heat up. Soon enough, he sheds the sweatpants and coat to take part in practice properly. Taekwoon is walking along, giving instructions in a clear voice as they pass the ball between them while jogging over the field.

Sanghyuk really likes the way he coaches them. Other coaches Sanghyuk’s had often felt the need to shout things at their players to be heard; Taekwoon doesn’t. He tells you what to do in a loud enough voice that you can hear him and no louder than that. If you don’t listen to his instructions, he won’t train you anymore. It’s as simple as that. So by now all the players under Taekwoon know that practice time is not the time to be joking around, unless Taekwoon is in a good mood. That’s when you can get away with pretty much anything.

Today, Taekwoon doesn’t seem in too good a mood and Sanghyuk is a little worried that it’s because of him.

While they practice their long passes, Sanghyuk finds himself zoning out more often than not. He frowns as a football lands near his feet and looks up when Nakamoto Yuta, a Japanese football player who moved to Seoul to train under Taekwoon, calls his name.

“Yeah, sorry!” Sanghyuk shouts back, holding up one hand and stepping back a few times to pass the ball back to Yuta. He looks over to see Gong Myung and Sungjae shoot their ball to each other, when he feels something smack against the side of his head harshly. Sanghyuk, unprepared for the sudden impact, loses balance. Darkness creeps up from the corners of his eyes and he collapses.

He opens his eyes and frowns. Where is the sky? Why is there a ceiling; did they move him inside? When he tries to sit up, he’s pushed back by two firm hands.

“Sanghyuk-ah.” Taekwoon sighs, “You should’ve told me if you weren’t okay.”

“Coach, I’m fine.” Sanghyuk assures him, but then he recognizes where they are; they’re back at the emergency room. “What—What happened?”

“I think you might have a concussion,” replies someone else; Sanghyuk shifts his attention to the owner of the deep voice and his eyes widen as he recognizes the doctor from before. It’s the guy Jaehwan knew and he is still very, very good-looking.

Sanghyuk almost tells him this, but quickly snaps his mouth shut. He nods instead.

“After Doctor Kim checks you out, I’m taking you home and you’re gonna rest. Understood?” Taekwoon tells him sternly.

“Yes, coach.”

That seems to be enough of a reply for Taekwoon, because he gets up and heads over to the desk to finish some of the paperwork, again.

“I’m Kim Wonshik.” Sanghyuk looks back to the doctor and smiles at him, waiting for him to continue. “Let’s see if my suspicions are correct, huh?”

Sanghyuk nods.

While the doctor is running his tests, Sanghyuk tries very hard not to stare at the tattoos peeking out from under his sleeves. He’s noticed at least two – one on each of the doctor’s wrists –, but there’s no way to find out if the guy has more without becoming awkward and creepy.

“Seems like a mild concussion to me.” Wonshik concludes. “You don’t have to stay at the hospital, but you should take your coach’s advice and go home to rest. You should count yourself lucky that the ball to your head didn’t cause any more harm.”

“Wait…” Sanghyuk mumbles, eyes meeting with Wonshik’s and his heart is suddenly in overdrive (thank god he’s not attached to a heart monitor, or this would’ve been very humiliating). “So did I have a concussion when I came in here before?”

“Yeah, that’s…” Wonshik scratches the back of his neck embarrassedly, “that’s probably my fault. I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have let you get discharged before checking on your symptoms more thoroughly.”

“It’s okay.” He assures the doctor, but Wonshik shakes his head.

“It’s really not. Things could’ve gone much worse. I’m sorry.”

Sanghyuk tries to gather his courage; he takes a deep breath before saying: “How about you make it up to me by giving me your number? You, uh… you could buy me some fried chicken sometime…”

Wonshik stares at him for a few seconds. Sanghyuk thinks he can nearly see the wheels in his head turning as he registers what Sanghyuk just requested of him. A blush spreads over the man’s cheeks and he stammers: “I—, uh… yeah—yeah, we could do that… Here, wait… scan the QR code of my KakaoTalk account.” 

He fishes his phone out of his pocket and lets Sanghyuk scan the code to add him as a contact.

“Are you older than I am?” Sanghyuk mumbles as he types a first message to Wonshik.

This is Sanghyuk.  


He presses send.

“Yeah, I am. You can call me hyung, if you want.” Wonshik replies with a goofy grin, looking down at his phone when it notifies him of Sanghyuk’s message.

“Alright! Thanks, hyung. I look forward to that fried chicken.”

“It was nice to meet you, Sanghyuk.” And with that, Wonshik walks off to inform Taekwoon of Sanghyuk’s confirmed concussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you guys think!  
> Please don't hesitate to leave kudos or comments~


	4. Half asleep

Taekwoon drops him off at his and Hongbin’s apartment. He even helps Sanghyuk up the stairs, because the elevator is out of order _again_.

“Thanks.” Sanghyuk mumbles, glad that he lives with Hongbin when Taekwoon decides to enter his apartment to help him to the sofa. Hongbin loves a clean and organized living space, which means that so long as Taekwoon doesn’t enter Sanghyuk’s bedroom, he won’t know what kind of a messy kid he’s training.

“Rest for the upcoming 24 hours at least; that means no practice tomorrow either.” Taekwoon tells him. Clearly nothing about this is up for discussion.

Sanghyuk hates this already.

“I’ll call you Thursday morning to discuss whether taking part in practice is possible by then.”

He just nods, knowing full well that disagreeing with Taekwoon now will only lead him to disbelieve anything Sanghyuk says when he calls him on Thursday.

Taekwoon obviously doesn’t need much more information than Sanghyuk’s silent agreement, because he’s already slipping into his shoes again, but he changes his mind.

“You’re home alone.” Taekwoon states and Sanghyuk nods again.

“I am. Hongbin-hyung will probably get home at around dinner time.”

“The doctor said someone had to keep an eye on you…”

Sanghyuk’s eyes widen. Does that mean Taekwoon is going to stay until Hongbin gets here?

“Do you have anyone you can call to come over?”

He shakes his head, “No, I don’t think so…”

“Then I’ll stay.” Taekwoon takes off his shoes and enters the living room once more. “Is it okay if I make myself some coffee?”

“Sure, everything you need is in the kitchen.” Sanghyuk replies, waving in the kitchen’s direction, as if it’s not an open kitchen that can easily be seen from Taekwoon’s point of view.

“Thanks.”

Sanghyuk sighs and makes himself more comfortable on the sofa. His headache has not improved with a ball hitting him in the face. He lies down on the couch, pulling the blanket that’s draped over the arm rest over so it covers him. Sanghyuk closes his eyes, wondering when Hongbin will return home. He hopes it’s soon, because having his coach over like this is incredibly awkward.

He doesn’t know how long he sleeps, but the sun has gone down by the time Hongbin crashes into their shared apartment. He’s carrying all his photography gear and dumps most of it next to the shoe closet before he takes off his shoes and sets them aside. 

Taekwoon is seated on the only arm chair in the apartment; he’s stolen a book from their book case to keep himself entertained while Sanghyuk is resting.

“Sanghyuk?” Hongbin asks.

Sanghyuk hears him walk over, but then the footsteps stop. He doesn’t want to open his eyes yet. He only just woke up and his headache still hasn’t subsided. Instead, he just listens.

“Oh, um… I’m sorry. Hello.” There’s a brief silence before Hongbin continues: “You’re Sanghyuk’s coach aren’t you? Jung Taekwoon?”

“Yes.” Taekwoon closes the book.

“Why—Why are you here?” Hongbin stammers.

“Sanghyuk has a concussion.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Someone had to keep an eye on him.” Taekwoon adds.

“Well, uh… I can— I can do that now, I suppose.”

“Yes.” Taekwoon stands up. He returns the book to the book case, pulls on his coat and slips back into his shoes.

After he’s left the apartment, Hongbin walks over to where Sanghyuk’s curled up on the sofa. “You haven’t changed out of your practice clothes.”

Sanghyuk hums, still half asleep.

“Did you eat yet?”

“No.” Sanghyuk mumbles, his lips brushing against the blanket while he speaks. He scrunches up his nose, because it feels weird.

“Get up.” Hongbin orders, patting Sanghyuk’s shoulder before walking over to the kitchen to check if they still have two pizzas in the freezer. 

Meanwhile Sanghyuk pushes himself upright. He clenches onto the sofa when he stands. He’s still dizzy and he doesn’t want to collapse again today.

“Are you feeling okay?” Hongbin says while scooping some rice out of their rice cooker and eating it. He must have skipped lunch, Sanghyuk thinks, because he’s also pre-heating the oven for the two pizzas.

“Yeah, I guess. All things considered...” Sanghyuk replies as he walks to the kitchen and takes a seat at the counter.

“What happened exactly?” 

“I was late; got into an accident with my bike. Oh, and after that I also got a ball to the face, but you know…” He shrugs.

“Damn.” The oven beeps to inform them that the pre-heating is done and Hongbin slides the two pizzas in there, setting the timer and taking a seat opposite to Sanghyuk.

“How was your day?” Sanghyuk asks.

It’s Hongbin’s turn to shrug, then. “It was fine, I mean, apart from some stuck-up model who wouldn’t listen to my instructions—” He’s cut off by his phone’s ringtone and looks down to check who’s calling. “It’s Gongchan, I’m gonna take this.” And with that he leaves for his bedroom.

Sanghyuk smiles down to the small bowl of rice Hongbin left behind, then he checks the timer for the pizzas. Ten more minutes. He decides to pull out his phone, eyes widening when he sees quite some messages waiting for him; mostly in the group with all the members of the football team.

**Yuta** \- Today, 04:52 PM  
Sanghyuk, I’m really sorry.  


**Jimin** \- Today, 04:59 PM  
Is it bad? Coach messaged us to say you were resting at home. He also said you won’t be at practice tomorrow.  


There are more messages, telling him to be careful and that they hope he’ll recover quickly. He decides to reply once. His brain still feels a little fuzzy and he doesn’t think he can keep track of a whole conversation via text very well, especially because the screen is a little too bright for his taste at the moment, even when he set the brightness low.

I’m okay. I took a nap as soon as I got home. Coach watched over me for a bit, but he’s gone now that my housemate’s back. Yuta, it’s not your fault, okay? Don’t worry about it. And I’ll be back soon, guys! You know I can’t live without football for long.

Sanghyuk is just about to shut down his phone so that the notifications won’t bug him anymore, when he receives a new message, this one’s from Wonshik.

**(Doctor) Wonshik-hyung** \- Today, 06:37 PM  
Did you get home okay? How are you feeling?  


I didn’t know exchanging numbers meant I’d get a free consultation.

**(Doctor) Wonshik-hyung** \- Today, 06:38 PM  
I’m sorry. I just wanted to check up on you.  
You didn’t answer my questions, though.  


I got home okay, coach kept an eye on me while I napped. Hongbin-hyung is home now, so we’re gonna have dinner soon.

**(Doctor) Wonshik-hyung** \- Today, 06:43 PM  
Have a nice meal.  


Thanks, hyung! You’ll still have to treat me to fried chicken when I feel better.

**(Doctor) Wonshik-hyung** \- Today, 06:44 PM  
I will.  


Nice! :DDD

When Wonshik doesn’t reply for a few minutes, Sanghyuk finally shuts his phone down and sets it aside. He gets up to check in the pizzas, only to realize that they need at least five minutes more. He slumps back on his seat at the counter, when Hongbin returns.

“What are you pouting for?” His fingers ruffle through Sanghyuk’s hair and Sanghyuk pokes Hongbin’s side.

“Pizzas aren’t done yet. How’s Gongchan-hyung?”

“He’s alright. We’re gonna go out to dinner tomorrow. Will you be okay all on your own?” Hongbin grins at him teasingly.

“Fuck off.”

“Alright, alright. Just saying you need to be careful, with your concussion and all.”

“I’m fine.” Sanghyuk assures him, albeit a little indignantly. There falls a silence between them. After a few minutes of mulling his questions over, Sanghyuk decides to speak up again: “Hyung? How did you and Gongchan-hyung start dating?”

“I thought you wanted to know nothing about my relationship with him? I thought you – and I quote – ‘couldn’t bear to see the heart-eyes I get when I talk about him’.”

“I changed my mind.”

“Oohh…” Hongbin narrows his eyes at him, “Does our little Hyuk have a crush?”

“Never mind. I don’t wanna know.”

Hongbin laughs, shaking his head a little. “I’ll tell you, don’t worry. And I’ll try not to be too sappy about it, too. But first things first—” The oven beeps to indicate the pizzas are done.

“Pizza!” Sanghyuk exclaims, jumping up and almost losing his balance in the process.

“Whoa, calm down there. I’ll get them.”

Sanghyuk quickly sits back down, trying to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth to get rid of the stars twirling at the corners of his eyes. “Thanks, hyung.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you guys think!  
> Please don't hesitate to leave kudos or comments~


	5. World records

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that it took me so long to write and upload this chapter!  
> I hope you guys enjoy~

The sun is shining through a crack in the curtains and that’s what wakes Sanghyuk up. He groans at himself, too tired to want to move. He turns around and pulls his covers over his head to block the sunlight. It doesn’t work as well as he’d like.

Eventually he just pushes the covers off. He gets up and puts on some sweatpants and a T-shirt he has lying around. Hongbin forced him to take a shower last night. And even though he hadn’t wanted to shower then, he’s grateful now that he did it anyway.

Sanghyuk feels pretty good; a lot less dizzy than yesterday, for sure. He wanders into the living room and heads straight for the kitchen to get some cereal with dairy-free milk as breakfast. While he’s seated at the counter, shoving the cereal in his mouth, he watches Hongbin scrunch up his face at the computer screen.

“Hyung.” He says to get the older man’s attention, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing…” Hongbin mutters.

Sanghyuk is sure that Hongbin hasn’t heard a single word he’s said. So once he finishes his breakfast and puts the bowl in the sink, he walks over to peek over Hongbin’s shoulder.

Hongbin is editing some photographs of an extremely handsome figure skater. Or at least, that’s what Sanghyuk gathers from the ice skates and the get-up on the guy. When his eyes wander up to the skater’s face, Sanghyuk’s eyes almost bug out of his head, because that’s Jaehwan.

“What?” Hongbin asks.

He hadn’t realized he’d said it out loud. Still, Sanghyuk repeats: “Isn’t that Jaehwan-hyung?”

“Jaehwan-hyung?” Now Hongbin’s attention is focused on Sanghyuk’s face and the blush that is spreading over the athlete’s cheeks. “You know Lee Jaehwan?”

“I, uh… yeah… I hit him with my bike yesterday.”

“You hit Lee Jaehwan with your bike?!”

“Yeah. I did… He’s a figure skater?”

Hongbin looks at his picture of Jaehwan and then back at Sanghyuk. “He’s not just a figure skater, Hyuk-ah. He’s an Olympic gold medalist. He holds world records in figure skating. That’s why there’s an entire spread about him in the magazine these pictures are for.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. No kidding.”

“I have his number.” Sanghyuk declares without thinking.

Hongbin almost tips his laptop off the counter. “What?!”

“Hyung, do you know where he trains?”

“How am I supposed to know?” Hongbin grumbles as he turns back to his laptop; his interest in the conversation has dissipated. He continues to play with the brightness and saturation of the photograph.

Sanghyuk has already hurried back to his bedroom, changing into more appropriate outdoor wear and jogging back out. He slips in his shoes when Hongbin looks up from his work.

“Where the hell are you going? Surely not to Lee Jaehwan!”

“I wanna see him skate, hyung!”

“How are you even gonna figure out where he’s training, or if he’s training today?”

“I’ll just have to text him!” Sanghyuk tells Hongbin, slamming the door behind him in order to end their conversation. 

As the door falls into its lock, Sanghyuk leans against it. 

Why is he such an idiot? Hongbin is right, he doesn’t even know if Jaehwan is training today, let alone where. And sure it would be possible to visit every ice rink in Seoul, but that would also be incredibly stupid.

He buries his face in his hands, contemplating his life choices for a brief second before getting a move on. No time to wallow in self-pity. He’ll just choose one ice rink and hope for the best.

Sanghyuk decides to pick the rink that is closest to the place where he hit Jaehwan with his bike; it’s also close to the emergency room they visited afterwards. At least now it’s an educated guess, right?

Still, the further he walks from home, the more he feels like a complete idiot for even doing this in the first place. He’s 100% sure that Hongbin will laugh at him when he gets back. And rightly so, because when he reaches the ice rink, there seems to be a hoard of middle schoolers getting ready to go on the ice. No way that Jaehwan has practice in the midst of these children.

With his concussion, Sanghyuk is pretty sure that his coach would kill him if he decided to join the kids on the ice. So instead, he goes to the small coffee shop within the ice rink and gets himself a steaming cup of tea. He holds the cup in his hands to heat him up a little as he walks over to a smaller rink on the side. 

He takes a seat in the stands and watches. There are three skaters on the ice, twirling and jumping around as a trainer gives instructions from the sidelines. Sanghyuk figures that, since he’s here anyway, he might as well enjoy their performance, instead of Jaehwan’s.

After about an hour of sipping from his tea and watching the skaters practice, Sanghyuk stretches his arms and stands up. That was enough wasting his free day on something stupid and impulsive. Time to head back home.

Sanghyuk throws his cup in the bin near the stands. On his way to the exit, he gets distracted by a familiar face. The guy is standing by another rink that Sanghyuk hadn’t noticed before, because it’s just around a corner. However, he’s pretty sure that the trainer standing there is Jaehwan’s trainer. So Sanghyuk quietly walks closer to the rink, watching in awe as he spots Jaehwan spinning on the ice as if he never got run over by Sanghyuk in the first place. 

He looks great. Like, more than great, actually... amazing. He looks so good, and for a second Sanghyuk wishes that he could figure skate as well.

To be honest, he never expected to actually see Jaehwan at the ice rink. The chances of them meeting were so slim that Sanghyuk had held out little hope, but seeing Jaehwan in his black training get-up makes his heart pump a little faster.

The thing is that Jaehwan is beautiful. He’s a lot more gracious now than when he was limping through the emergency room. Sanghyuk really wishes that their traffic accident didn’t affect Jaehwan’s training schedule or performance too much, because he knows how important football is to him, so he can have some idea of how important figure skating is to Jaehwan.

Jaehwan picks up a little speed on the ice, only to throw himself into some kind of jump (it’s not like Sanghyuk knows anything about figure skating, except that’s it’s incredibly impressive). Jaehwan lands and ends up skating backwards, which is a skill that Sanghyuk has never acquired. He used to go to the ice rink sometimes as a kid to play around with his friends, but he could barely keep standing.

Sanghyuk is just so amazed by everything Jaehwan can do and how he seems so much more poised and maybe also a little more mature on the ice than off. He’s so serious, and Sanghyuk can’t help but smile. 

Being able to see this side of Jaehwan feels good, even if Jaehwan doesn’t know that Sanghyuk is watching. 

“Jaehwan-hyung!” 

Sanghyuk jerks around at the familiar voice, spotting Kim Wonshik at the ice rink as well. Jaehwan’s serious face melts off and is replaced by a bright smile. He skates to the edge of the rink to greet Wonshik with a hug.

“Lee Jaehwan! What did I tell you about inviting people over while we’re training!” The trainer’s loud voice echoes through the room. Sanghyuk is pretty sure he can see a small smile on the guy’s face though, so maybe he doesn’t mind too much. “We’ll go over the routine again tomorrow. Make sure to go to dance class tonight. And have fun with your boyfriend!”

His heart sinks. 

And he’s not entirely sure why. 

Sanghyuk didn’t think that his interest in Jaehwan meant that he had a crush. Jaehwan was a really nice guy, so who wouldn’t wanna hang out with him more? Same goes for Wonshik, although Sanghyuk can’t say that he disliked Wonshik’s muscular body and tattoos. 

While Jaehwan gets off the ice, Sanghyuk edges closer to the hallway to exit this rink. He doesn’t want to intrude in a personal moment between Jaehwan and Wonshik, especially if the two are dating. 

He returns to the apartment and kicks off his shoes. Hongbin is still seated where he was before, but now Gongchan is sitting next to him, playing on his phone while his boyfriend works.

“Did you see Lee Jaehwan?” Hongbin asks without looking up from the screen.

“No.” Sanghyuk lies.

“Told you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm sorry for taking so long to write and upload this chapter, please forgive me?
> 
> And I'd love to hear what you guys think of this update!  
> Please don't hesitate to leave kudos or comments~


	6. Excess energy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly reminder to turn on Creator's Style to see my formatting for this chapter properly!

Sanghyuk spends the rest of his day off in his room, where he wiles away useful waking hours by watching YouTube videos he’s already seen a dozen times before. He goes to bed early that night, in hopes of being allowed to join practice tomorrow.

When he wakes up at six in the morning the next day, there is a text waiting for him. It’s from his coach.

**Jung Taekwoon** \- Today, 05:43 AM  
I think you should rest for one day more, just to be sure. I don’t want you to strain yourself.  


His heart drops. He wants to throw something out of the window or punch the wall. Football is something that gives him so much joy; not being able to play always messes with his head more than he’d like. Because he didn’t get to work out yesterday, he can almost _feel_ the ball of energy inside him.

Today is going to be a long day…

His breakfast consists of cereal again, and while he is rinsing the bowl, Gongchan stumbles out of Hongbin’s bedroom.

“Morning, Hyukie.” He says, his voice still rough from sleep.

“Morning, hyung.”

“You doing okay?” Gongchan asks as he moves around the kitchen to get him and his boyfriend some breakfast.

“I’m not allowed to train today.” Sanghyuk whines, because he needs someone to feel for him and Hongbin certainly won’t.

Gongchan looks at him with sympathy in his eyes and pats his shoulder briefly, “That sucks.” 

Sanghyuk nods.

“So what are you gonna do today?”

He shrugs, “I have no clue.”

“If you want, I can probably convince Hongbin to play some Overwatch with you later? I have another shoot this afternoon, so I have to leave at around 1 PM.”

Sanghyuk smiles at him gratefully, “I think I’ll manage, but thanks anyway.”

“Of course.” Gongchan says, smiling back.

“Gongchan-ah!” Hongbin calls from the bedroom, and with a last pat on the shoulder, Gongchan takes the breakfast to Hongbin’s bedroom for them to eat.

Sanghyuk decides to just settle on the couch for now and watch some anime, since he doesn’t really have anything better to do.

When two hours have passed since their breakfast in bed, Hongbin and Gongchan head out to get some coffee at a café nearby. Since both of them have very demanding jobs, coffee dates are about all they can manage time-wise. 

Shortly after they leave, Sanghyuk can’t take it anymore. He needs to do something; he needs to _move_. So he switches off the television and gets off the couch to start some jumping jacks. It doesn’t really help much, so instead he switches to doing push-ups on the floor in front of the sofa to get at least _some_ of the excess energy out of his system. 

Sanghyuk briefly wonders whether he’d be allowed to go for a jog. No one told him the exact rules of his house arrest, so maybe it would be okay?

Just as he heads to his room to change into work-out clothes, he received another text message; this time it’s from Wonshik.

**(Doctor) Wonshik-hyung** \- Today, 08:58 AM  
If you have time, maybe we can go for that fried chicken tonight?  


He stares at the text for a few seconds. The image from yesterday comes to mind: Jaehwan skating to Wonshik with that huge grin and the tight embrace that followed. He opts to ignore Wonshik’s text for now, even though he feels bad for doing so. Instead, he looks at the work-out clothes he’s thrown on the bed for him to change into.

Sanghyuk would like to do nothing more than go for that jog, but maybe he shouldn’t. After all, Taekwoon didn’t want him to strain himself. What else is he supposed to do with his day? Sanghyuk wonders, because he honestly has no idea.

Instead of jogging, he takes a seat behind his laptop, so he can release his frustrations by playing Overwatch. Hongbin is still out with Gongchan, so they can’t play together, but it doesn’t really matter much. Sanghyuk might as well get some practice games in, so that maybe he can stand a chance against Hongbin next time they play. (Sanghyuk is well aware that this is an unachievable goal, because Hongbin is a master at playing Hanzo).

He plays Overwatch for about one and a half hours, choosing to play Genji and Roadhog the most. Hongbin has jokingly called him ‘Roadhyuk’ a couple of times, because he opts for that character a lot when they play together. Afterwards, he gets up and stretches, wondering what else he could do, since it’s only 10:30 by now. Seriously, why does time go by so slowly? 

Sanghyuk moves back to the couch and pulls out his phone, looking at his saved items on several social networks. He ends up finding some Buzzfeed quizzes he’d saved for later. After answering a couple of questions, he finds out that cookies and cream is the ice cream flavour that best matches his personality, because apparently he has a “soft, comforting side to [him] which is contrasted with a hard, unapologetic undertone”, which sounds plausible enough, even if Sanghyuk isn’t so sure about that soft comforting side. Now he’s craving Oreos and ice cream though. Stupid Buzzfeed quiz. Although he might go out to buy some ice cream later… 

Another 45 minutes pass while he’s answering more quiz questions to find out How Much Dragon Energy He Has (it’s 50%), Who He Is In His Friend Group (the adventurous one) and more. He also gets told that he’s Spider-Man, based on his movie preferences. Eventually he gets sick of the quizzes and puts his phone down on the table in favour of staring at the ceiling.

He’s not really sure how long he’s been lying on the sofa doing nothing, but then Hongbin and Gongchan finally return from their coffee date.

“Everything okay, Hyuk?” Hongbin asks as he kicks off his shoes while Gongchan follows suit.

“I’m so bored…” Sanghyuk whines in response. He’s still staring at the ceiling, but he hears Gongchan chuckle softly.

“Why don’t you go outside? The weather’s really nice out today.” Hongbin suggests.

“But I don’t have anything to _do_ outside.” Sanghyuk sits up to look at Hongbin, who has moved into their open kitchen and starts to gather things for lunch.

“Borrow one of my cameras and take some pictures.”

“You’d let me do that?” Sanghyuk asks incredulously.

“Only because you’re being a little shit right now and I wanna have lunch with my boyfriend in peace.” Hongbin says matter-of-factly.

Gongchan smiles and mumbles: “Don’t be too hard on Sanghyuk, Binnie.”

“I mean, where did I lie? Besides, you have to leave at one o’clock, and I don’t want my annoying roommate messing up with the one time this week that I get to see you. Exactly _why_ do you have to go to Japan after you finish this afternoon’s shoot? It’s not fair!”

“Sorry.” Gongchan replies, drawing Hongbin in for a brief kiss.

Sanghyuk pulls a face: “You guys, your room is. _Right_. _There_.” He points to Hongbin’s room. “Get in in that room and do your private stuff in _private_ , where it belongs.”

Hongbin flips him the finger before pulling away from Gongchan to continue his lunch preparations. 

At this point, Sanghyuk figures that, since he’s not welcome in his own apartment, he’ll just take Hongbin up on his suggestion. After asking Hongbin which camera he can take, he heads out with it.

Going to the park seems like a pretty good idea, especially because the sun is shining so brightly today. Sanghyuk goes around taking amateuristic photographs of flowers, trees and dogs that he crosses paths with. He knows his photos won’t be nearly as good as Hongbin’s, but then again, taking incredible pictures is Hongbin’s job.

At about 12:30 Sanghyuk heads back to the apartment. On the way back, he gets a pint of ice cream from his favourite ice cream shop. Even though he’s lactose intolerant, he never really wants to pick the sorbet ice cream. The normal ones are so good, why would he go for second best?

He returns home with the ice cream and takes the card out of Hongbin’s camera to transfer his pictures to his laptop. Meanwhile Gongchan is gathering his things to leave and just before 1 PM, he kisses Hongbin, hits Sanghyuk’s shoulder once more as goodbye and heads out.

Once Hongbin’s focus has left his departing boyfriend, he turns to the camera Sanghyuk borrowed, going over every detail and checking all the settings before humming approvingly and returning it to the shelf above his desk, where he keeps all his camera equipment in their respective camera bags.

Sanghyuk finishes the ice cream all by himself, except for the two bites Hongbin steals when he comes out of his bedroom to take a break from editing some of his photographs. Sanghyuk spends the rest of the day doing very little. He downloads Tinder, creates the entire profile, swipes a couple of guys left and right, before deleting it again. He also searches ice skating lessons online to see whether it is something he could afford (he can’t). 

Eventually Sanghyuk tries to find a recipe for him to cook as dinner that evening, but they all seem a lot more complicated than the things he’s able to make. His cooking skills stop at fried rice and a baked egg. Then, he remembers Wonshik’s text message.

Fried chicken sounds _great_ right now. And so does company, because Hongbin has been holed up in his room for most of the day since Gongchan left. So Sanghyuk clicks away his Naver search and selects his conversation with Wonshik.

Sorry for the late reply, hyung. If the offer still stands, then that’d be great! 

You could come over here and we could order some?

Hongbin-hyung probably won’t eat if I don’t bug him for dinner, so…

It takes a couple of minutes, but then there’s a reply.

**(Doctor) Wonshik-hyung** \- Today, 04:36 PM  
Okay! I’m off work in about one and a half hours. If you send me your address, I’ll come over after work.  


Yeah, no problem. See you later!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you guys think!  
> Please don't hesitate to leave kudos or comments~


	7. Fried chicken

As promised, Sanghyuk messages Wonshik his address. He also looks over a couple of places that do chicken deliveries in the neighbourhood, wondering which type of chicken Wonshik would like. 

Sanghyuk knocks on Hongbin’s door to check what sauce he wants on his fried chicken too. When he enters, the older man is busy editing some pictures on the screens in front of him.

“Hyung, a friend of mine is coming over tonight and we’re having fried chicken. Do you want some too?”

“What? Chicken?” Hongbin asks; his eyes remain on the screen.

“Yeah.” Sanghyuk replies.

“Nice. When?” 

“Tonight.” Sanghyuk checks the clock in the corner of one of Hongbin’s screens. “In like 30 minutes Wonshik-hyung will get here. So we’ll order then.”

“Great.” Hongbin mumbles, his complete attention back on the editing.

“Hyung.”

“Hm?”

“What type of sauce do you want?”

“Sauce?” Hongbin questions. “Maybe soy sauce?”

“Alright.” And with that, Sanghyuk leaves Hongbin alone again.

While he’s waiting for Wonshik to arrive, Sanghyuk tidies up his bedroom a little, just in case. The living room looks good enough, because Hongbin cleans more than Sanghyuk even dreams of doing. Sanghyuk is nervous to meet Wonshik in a non-professional, non-doctor-and-patient situation. He has no idea how he should act around Wonshik. Something is fluttering in his stomach, and honestly? It makes him feel a little nauseous.

When the bell rings, Sanghyuk nearly trips over his own feet as he launches himself to the door. He takes two deep breaths to steady himself before opening up.

In front of him stands Wonshik, who looks absolutely breathtaking out of his scrubs and doctor’s coat. Instead, he’s sporting black jeans, red converse all-stars and a button-down with short, wide sleeves. The tattoos on both of his wrists are glaringly visible and Sanghyuk gulps. Just when he’s trying to figure out the imagery on Wonshik’s button-down (he suspects it’s cacti), he realizes that he’s staring.

“Oh!” Sanghyuk says, and Wonshik laughs. Is it Sanghyuk or does he sound a little nervous too? “Sorry, come on in! Hongbin-hyung is still working, as expected.”

Wonshik’s mouth twists to convey an emotion Sanghyuk can’t quite place before settling on a smile: “Thanks.” And he enters.

Sanghyuk rubs his hands together; they’re a little clammy. His heart his beating fast. He brushes his hands over his jeans quickly as he follows Wonshik inside again. He starts talking, because he’s not sure how to deal with any of this and it feels too quiet between them. “So, Hongbin-hyung wants soy sauce, but we can just order two different flavours. Or maybe three, if we do one chicken half-half. I personally always really like to have at least half without any sauce, ‘cause that’s really good too, you know? But I don’t know what you like, so if you like something spicy, we can get some more spicy chicken, or if you want another flavour, we can do that too. If you want anything from the side menu, that’s no problem either, really. And I’ll pay, since I basically forced you to eat this with me—” 

Wonshik holds up his hands to try and stop Sanghyuk from talking, he chuckles a little. “You didn’t force me. I suggested eating chicken together tonight, didn’t I? If you want, we can simply all pay for our share.”

“Right! Right, that’d be good too. So I was looking up a couple of chicken places in the neighbourhood. Me and Hongbin-hyung usually order from this, so if we order there then maybe we can get some extras, because they know our names and address by now. But if you have another place around here that you wanna order from, that’s fine as well, of course. I really don’t care a lot. So long as Hongbin-hyung get his chicken with soy sauce, we can do whatever— Oh! Sorry, take a seat. Here, we can just…” Sanghyuk laughs embarrassedly as he gestures to the sofa and sits down as well. “Anyway, as I was saying—”

“Sanghyuk-ah.” Wonshik interrupts, and the way Wonshik says his name makes his throat constrict a little.

He nods.

“How about we get one soy sauce and one original? With some fries on the side, and maybe some beer?” 

“I don’t really drink a lot… being a soccer player and all…” Sanghyuk mumbles quietly.

“Oh! Right, of course. Stupid of me. What about your…” Wonshik hesitates, “…friend?”

“Hongbin-hyung? I haven’t asked. But we have some beer in the fridge if you want some. We don’t have to order it.”

“I won’t drink if you guys won’t, though. It’s fine.”

Sanghyuk nods awkwardly, playing with his phone in his hands. “So soy sauce and original?” He checks.

“Yeah.” Wonshik confirms with a smile. “And fries.”

“Then I’ll call them.” 

Wonshik nods once and Sanghyuk dials the number of the chicken place. 

About 45 minutes later, the doorbell rings. Sanghyuk crawls onto his feet to accept the food and pay for it.

“Hyung!” He calls to Hongbin’s room, “The chicken’s here. Hongbin-hyung!”

“What?” He hears Hongbin shout back.

“Food!”

A minute after, Hongbin’s door flies open. Sanghyuk just put the chicken on the table in front of the sofa where Wonshik is still seated.

Hongbin takes a seat on the floor, starting to unwrap their dinner.

“Beer?” Sanghyuk asks.

Hongbin shows him a thumbs up, so Sanghyuk heads to the fridge. He grabs three cans of beer, figuring he could drink one. Just one, just for today. As he sets the cans on the table, he can feel Wonshik’s eyes on him. It makes him feel giddy. He takes a seat on the floor next to Hongbin, who’s handing out the chopsticks.

It takes them approximately two seconds to dig in. Hongbin stuffs his face with chicken quickly and grabs some fries before he ruffles Sanghyuk’s hair. It seems like he wants to get back to work as fast as possible. Sanghyuk hopes that Hongbin won’t end up too hungry later tonight. “Thanks for dinner, Hyuk-ah. I ate well.”

“Hyung, you still have beer.” Sanghyuk reminds him, but Hongbin’s already walking to his room.

“You finish it!”

Sanghyuk looks at the can of beer, wondering briefly whether it would be a good idea to also finish Hongbin’s beer on top of his own. He supposes it’s not an incredibly awful idea.

Wonshik and Sanghyuk eat a little slower than Hongbin, and they discuss their days over chicken and beer. Sanghyuk thinks, once he’s finished Hongbin’s can of beer as well as his own, that it might have been a little too much, but there’s nothing he can do about it now.

He gets to his feet and blinks briefly before gathering the containers that are now empty. He walks over to the trash can and he can hear Wonshik’s deep chuckle as he almost walks into the counter on the way there.

“Look.” Sanghyuk says, turning around and holding his finger up to indicate that Wonshik needs to pay attention. “I’m not usually a lightweight, but…” He smiles a little at himself, “It’s been a while, okay? And I’m not drunk!”

“I believe you.” Wonshik tells him while Sanghyuk makes his way back to the sofa and unceremoniously drops himself next to the older man (and managing to actually land closer than he intended).

Their eyes meet; Sanghyuk briefly forgets how to breathe. Then he giggles and Wonshik’s lips pull up in the most beautiful smile Sanghyuk’s ever seen (save for Jaehwan’s smile, maybe).

Sanghyuk leans forward without thinking. His lips touch Wonshik’s for only a second before the other has pulled back. “Whoa…”

_Oh no_.

“I…” Sanghyuk says, his eyes wide. “I’m so sorry… I thought—”

Wonshik shakes his head quickly and says: “It’s fine. It’s fine, don’t worry. You’re just a little tipsy, that’s all.” 

“Right.”

“Really, don’t worry about it. We’re okay.” But when Wonshik smiles, Sanghyuk thinks that his eyes don’t sparkle as brightly as they did before and he can’t help but conclude that he ruined it.

“Sorry.” Sanghyuk says again and Wonshik shakes his head in response. They both move back a little, to put some more distance between them. The silence between them stretches out for what feels like hours. Sanghyuk can hear his heart beat in his ears and he wants nothing else but to drown it out. “Let’s just watch some tv.” He suggests.

They settle on Avatar: The Last Airbender. A classic, if you ask Sanghyuk, and Wonshik seems to enjoy it too. As the evening progresses, Sanghyuk slowly eases back into the couch. He feels his shoulder press against Wonshik’s a little when he shifts, but he decides not to move away. They’re still friends, right? Wonshik hasn’t left, so they’re good… right?

Halfway through the third episode, Hongbin exits his room to grab himself something to drink. He lingers briefly to see what they’re watching before going back to continue working.

It’s almost midnight when Wonshik stretches his arms above his head, leaning forward on the sofa and turning his head to face Sanghyuk. “I should probably go.”

“Oh, yeah, sure!” Sanghyuk says, jumping on his feet – not a good decision – and quickly grabbing hold of the sofa’s arm rest in order to regain his balance. He huffs out a laugh. “Thanks for coming tonight, hyung. I had fun.”

“We should do it again sometime.” Wonshik agrees, smiling as they walk towards the door together. 

“Definitely.” 

Wonshik is putting on his shoes and grabs his coat. “Alright.” 

Sanghyuk nods.

“See you around.”

“See ya.” Sanghyuk waves to Wonshik briefly and then the door closes behind the man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you guys think!  
> I love reading your comments, and it's great motivation for me to keep writing this story :))


	8. Spare clothes

The sun rises far too early the next morning. Sanghyuk is exhausted. He turns around under the covers, grabbing his phone from the night stand and turning off his alarm. He checks his messages, squinting his eyes at the bright screen of his phone. He hasn’t grabbed his glasses or put in his contacts yet, so everything’s a little blurry. 

He checks his messages. Sanghyuk’s smiling to himself when he reads the one from his coach.

**Jung Taekwoon** \- Today, 05:39 AM  
I expect you to be present at practice today. See you soon.  


He rolls out of bed, grabs his bag and pushes his training clothes in there. He’s buzzing with energy. Finally! He finally gets to train again! He grabs some other things he needs, jamming it into his bag before dragging everything out to the living room and leaving it near the door.

Sanghyuk grabs a bowl for his cereal and takes a seat at the counter. It’s not long after he starts eating that Hongbin enters the room and sits down next to him.

“Did you have a good time last night?”

“Yeah.” Sanghyuk replies before stuffing his face with some more cereal.

“That guy was nice… what’s his name? Wonshik?”

He nods.

“You two dating?” Hongbin asks.

Sanghyuk almost chokes, spraying some of the milk over the counter while he tries to both not die and keep his meal inside his mouth.

“Gross.” The older man comments as he grabs some tissues for Sanghyuk.

Once Sanghyuk’s swallowed his food, he speaks up: “You’re the one who asked me that question so unexpectedly!”

“Yeah, well…” Hongbin shrugs, “You didn’t reply yet.”

“No, we’re not dating. He’s into someone else.” He can’t ban the disappointment from his voice entirely, however hard he tries.

“That’s a fucking lie, Hyuk-ah. He’s totally got his eye on you.”

“Hyung, I’m telling you. He’s dating someone else.”

“Doesn’t mean he isn’t into you.” Hongbin counters with a smile. “You like him too, right?”

“I mean, I guess?” Sanghyuk mumbles. The thing is that every time he thinks of how he feels for Wonshik, he remembers how he feels for Jaehwan, and vice versa.

“I saw the way you two look at each other.” Hongbin explains. “You guys are obviously into each other.” 

Sanghyuk sighs.

“Look. I’m not saying you should pursue him despite the fact that he has a partner. I’m just saying that you could discuss it with him…” Hongbin grins and squeezes Sanghyuk’s shoulders. “Who knows what’ll happen, right?”

“Right.” Sanghyuk agrees half-heartedly. He gets up to rinse his bowl. Once he’s done, he grabs his coat and shrugs it on. He slings his bag over his shoulder, slips into his shoes and heads out.

He cycles to the football field. It’s not a very long ride and this time he makes sure not to hit any unsuspecting passerby’s with his bike. He arrives at the field without any problems. 

When he walks into the changing room, he gets attacked by his teammates.

“Guys!” Sanghyuk laughs, hugging them back. “I still need to breathe, you know.”

They remove themselves from their group hug and change into their football uniforms.

It’s a cold day, with rain drizzling from the cloudy sky as they warm up. Taekwoon is jogging alongside them. If only so he won’t be too cold during their practice.

Sanghyuk is told multiple times to take it easy today, but he doesn’t want to take it easy. He’s bursting with energy. He could run home right now and still have energy to spare. He loves football. It means the world to him. So his coach will just have to forgive him for not taking it easy today. He’s too excited to.

By the end of practice, he feels a lot more at ease. He no longer feels like there’s an electric current under his skin, willing him to _move_. Instead, his body has relaxed, succumbing to the well-known ache in his muscles.

Sanghyuk showers and changes into his everyday clothes. He and Sungjae hang back, eventually strolling to a nearby coffee shop.

“We missed you at practice the last couple of days.”

“I wish I could’ve been there, too.” Sanghyuk admits.

“Ugh. I know, right? I can’t imagine not being able to train for two whole days.”

Sanghyuk laughs. “I was so bored! I didn’t know hours could pass by so damn slowly.”

At the coffee shop, they quickly order their drinks, knowing exactly what they want. They sit down in their usual spot, where they have a good view of most of the customers seated at the various tables. They stay there, chatting comfortably while rain starts to fall down from the clouded sky, tapping on the roof and pavement in a quiet pitter-patter. 

The drizzle turns into a downpour soon after it starts. Just as thunder rumbles above, the door of the coffee shop opens and a drenched jogger enters. He walks to the counter and orders something that Sanghyuk can’t quite hear.

The jogger tries to shrug off his jacket in one go, but the wet fabric is clinging to his skin. It’s only then that Sanghyuk recognizes him.

“Hyung!” He calls. “Jaehwan-hyung!”

The jogger looks up and, upon seeing Sanghyuk, smiles a bright smile. “Hyoggie!” Jaehwan receives his drink and heads to the table where Sanghyuk’s sitting. 

“Hey.” Jaehwan beams at him. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good.” Sanghyuk replies while he looks Jaehwan over. He’s soaked, from head to toe. “How are you?”

“I’m okay, it’s just a little chilly right now.” Jaehwan chuckles.

“Do you want to borrow some of my clothes? You shouldn’t catch a cold.”

“You have spare clothes with you?”

“Yeah, my training suit.” Sanghyuk explains.

“Really? You’d let me borrow that?”

“Of course. You can change in the bathroom over there.”

“Thank you so, so much. I actually have a competition this weekend. Hakyeon’s gonna kill me if I’m not in top condition.”

Sanghyuk pulls his training suit out of his bag, handing it to Jaehwan, who heads off to the toilets to change.

“So…” Sungjae says.

Sanghyuk turns to face him quickly. “Shit.” He completely forgot about Sungjae for a second there. “Sorry.”

“No worries.” His friend assures him. “Who was that?”

“That’s Jaehwan-hyung. He’s the guy I hit with my bike a couple days ago. He’s a figure skater.”

Sungjae whistles slowly. “Just your luck.”

“I know, right?” Sanghyuk chuckles. “Is it okay if I ask him to come sit with us when he comes back?”

“Sure. I actually have to go in like five minutes anyway.” Sungjae tells him.

“Ah, really?” Sanghyuk was actually hoping to get Sungjae’s opinion of Jaehwan, but he supposes that’ll have to wait until next time, if there will even be a next time.

“Sorry.” Sungjae says unapologetically. “At least you’ll have company?”

“True.”

“You like him, though, don’t you?” Sungjae grins at him.

“I… you know, maybe?”

“Oh my god. You actually do.”

Sanghyuk doesn’t know how to respond to that, so he settles for burying his face in his hands.

His friend laughs and pats him on the back: “It’s alright.”

When Sungjae stands and starts to gather his stuff, Sanghyuk sits up again, his ears still a little red from embarrassment. They say goodbye before Sungjae heads off. Jaehwan strolls back to the table just as Sungjae walks out of the door.

“Where did your friend go? You didn’t even get to introduce us.”

“He had to leave.” 

“Aww…” Jaehwan pouts and Sanghyuk can barely believe that this guy is older than he is.

“His name is Sungjae, by the way. He’s in my football team. You can probably meet him some other time, to be honest. He and I are pretty close.”

“I guess that’d be nice?” Jaehwan takes a seat next to Sanghyuk, who at that point is preoccupied with his drink, if only not to look at the way Jaehwan looks better in his training suit than he does (even if it’s a little too big on him).

“So you said you had a competition this weekend, right? Are you nervous?” Sanghyuk asks.

“A little. I’m always nervous, especially for big competitions like this.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great.” He assures him.

“How do you know that? You haven’t even seen me skate.”

Sanghyuk opens his mouth to reply, but closes it again. Opting not to tell Jaehwan about his visit to the ice rink.

“You could come, you know?” Jaehwan says suddenly. 

“What?”

“You could come and see me skate.”

“I could?”

“You could, this weekend.”

“This weekend, when?”

“It’s on Saturday and Sunday, starts at like 5.”

“So I’m invited?”

“You’re invited.” Jaehwan smiles that bright smile that makes his cheeks look more full and causes cute creases to form at the corners of his eyes.

Sanghyuk thinks he might just be in love with that smile alone.

“So you’ll come?” Jaehwan asks and Sanghyuk doesn’t know how fast he has to start nodding.

“Yeah! Yeah, definitely. I’ll be there! Can you send me the details via text?”

“I will.”

“I can’t wait to see you skate, hyung.” Sanghyuk says, and it’s true. He’s seen Jaehwan practice once, so he can only imagine what the real performance is like.

“Wonshikkie will probably be there too.”

“Oh.” Sanghyuk mumbles. “Really?”

“Yeah! So maybe you guys can come together? I heard he had chicken with you the other day. If I hadn’t had dance practice that night, I would’ve been sad that I wasn’t invited…”

“Alright, sure. I’ll message him about it.”

“Great!” Jaehwan grins, his hands folding around the warm mug in front of him.

Sanghyuk looks down to his own drink, forcing a smile. “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter! I really enjoy reading your comments and I try to reply as much as I can.  
> And thank you guys so much for all the kudos and comments you've left already!!


	9. In uniform

That Saturday, Sanghyuk cycles to the ice rink where Jaehwan’s competition is held. He’s both excited to be invited, and sad that Wonshik got invited as well. But Wonshik is a really nice guy, and he’s Jaehwan’s boyfriend too, so Sanghyuk really shouldn’t complain. He should just be happy that he even got invited in the first place.

So that’s what he decides to do.

Upon arrival at the rink, he spots Wonshik lingering near the entrance, probably waiting for him. Sanghyuk takes a little longer to chain up his bike, if only to sneak the occasional glance at Wonshik. He looks _great_.

Wonshik is wearing ripped blue jeans and a white T-shirt with a plaid shirt on top, but the plaid shirt’s not just one colour or pattern, it’s a mix of like four different types of plaid fabric. It _could_ look like a mess, but it doesn’t. It looks really, _really_ good on him.

Sanghyuk doesn’t get it anymore, honestly.  How can he like two guys this much at the same time? While those guys are dating each other, too?

He jogs over to Wonshik after checking whether his bike’s chained properly. “Hey!” He says after coming to a stop in front of Wonshik.

“Sanghyuk-ah, hey!” Wonshik grins.

“Did you wait long?”

“Nah, just a couple minutes.” He assures him.

“Good.” Sanghyuk smiles.

“Let’s go.” Wonshik grabs him by the wrist to lead him inside.

They take a seat in the stands, watching the rink for a while, even if the competition hadn’t even started yet.

“Do you think he’s nervous?” Sanghyuk asks.

“Probably? He says he usually is before big competitions like this.”

Sanghyuk nods. “I would be, too.”

“Have you ever played football at this level?” Wonshik asks.

“I’m trying to, but I’ve got a lot of training to do before I can.”

“So how does that work anyway?”

“That depends…” Sanghyuk mumbles. When he sees Jaehwan at the side of the rink, he hits Wonshik’s thigh a couple of times, “There he is! There he is!”

Wonshik laughs.

Jaehwan enters the ice for what seems like warm-up.

“Are _you_ nervous?” Sanghyuk asks Wonshik.

“About what?”

“Jaehwan-hyung, skating. What if something goes wrong?”

“A friend of mine is on stand-by as EMT. And if that friend needs back-up, he knows I’m here supporting Jaehwan-hyung, so it’ll be fine.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Besides, Jaehwan-hyung gets hurt so often and he always ends up just fine. I’ve learned to worry a little less about him over the years.”

“How long have you two known each other?”

“I don’t know.” Wonshik says. “Maybe five years? Maybe longer?”

“Damn.”

Wonshik chuckles.

The announcer tells the skaters to get off the ice, since warm-up time has ended now. Jaehwan isn’t the first skater to skate and so Sanghyuk can lean back and take some time to get used to how figure skating competitions work.

Jaehwan is fourth, which means there’s a short break after his performance. When he enters the rink, Wonshik and Sanghyuk both lean forward.

“Wow…” Sanghyuk sighs.

“I know, right?” Wonshik says. “His trainer loves a good show, so his costumes are always super impressive.”

“He looks amazing.”

The football player can’t keep his eyes off Jaehwan: he’s wearing a dark blue figure skating costume with a jacket. But it’s not just a jacket: it has medals and ribbons, which makes him look like an army official.

Sanghyuk knew he liked men in uniform a little when he’d seen Wonshik in his doctor’s attire, but this is _worse_. (Or maybe better? Either way, it takes his breath away).

Jaehwan’s _charisma_ on the ice is just as breathtaking as his outfit, and Sanghyuk can’t take his eyes off him. He twists and turns and Sanghyuk can’t breathe any time Jaehwan flings himself into another jump. Sanghyuk would’ve slipped and fallen a dozen times just skating from one side of the ring to the other, but Jaehwan only stumbles once after landing another jump.

“That’s gonna cost him points.” Wonshik explains.

While the music picks up the pace, Jaehwan starts what Wonshik said is a step sequence. Sanghyuk feels like an idiot for not knowing anything about figure skating, but he still enjoys Jaehwan’s performance thoroughly.

“He’s gonna do a double axel now.” Wonshik tells him as he pats Sanghyuk’s knee to get this attention, just like he’s been doing with the other impressive jumps Jaehwan’s landed so far.

They watch as Jaehwan speeds up before throwing himself into the axel, he spins and lands, but he’s thrown off his balance and almost has to catch himself with his hands on the ice. He just manages to hold on and continues skating.

Wonshik and Sanghyuk both let out a sigh.

“For a second, I thought he’d fall.” Sanghyuk mumbles.

“Me too.” Wonshik laughs, “But tomorrow he’s going to try the triple axel, which is a lot harder than this one.”

“Damn…”

“Yeah. And I have to work tomorrow, so I can’t even see it.”

“I’ll be here tomorrow, so I can keep you updated?” Sanghyuk offers. He feels bad that Wonshik won’t be able to see his boyfriend win (and Jaehwan probably will win, because if you ask Sanghyuk, Jaehwan’s definitely the best skater here).

“That’d be great, Sanghyuk. Thanks.”

Meanwhile Jaehwan finishes his program with a beautiful, long spin. Once he’s done, both Wonshik and Sanghyuk jump onto their feet and applaud as loud as they can. Jaehwan bows deeply, skates to view the stands on the other side and bows again before he skates to the edge of the rink and steps off the ice.

Wonshik doesn’t sit back down, instead he grabs Sanghyuk by the wrist and pulls him along.

“Where are we going?” Sanghyuk asks, even though he has some idea of where Wonshik is taking him.

His suspicions are confirmed when Wonshik answers: “To Jaehwan-hyung.”

It’s only when Sanghyuk actually sees Jaehwan that he believes that they can meet him. He thought it would’ve been off limits here, but apparently not for them. Or not for Wonshik, at least, and since he’s being dragged along by Jaehwan’s boyfriend, he’s allowed to visit too.

Jaehwan leaps onto his feet when he spots them. “Wonshik! Sanghyuk!” He beams, closing the space between them and pulling both of them in a tight embrace at the same time, “Did you see my program? Did you like it?”

Once they’re freed from Jaehwan’s hug, the three of them take a seat and discuss Jaehwan’s program. They spend a while just hanging out together and after they leave the ice rink, they decide to have dinner together at a restaurant nearby.

Wonshik and Jaehwan can’t stay too long, because Wonshik has an early shift the next day, and Jaehwan needs to get some rest after the first day of competition. Tomorrow, he’ll have to perform another program, so even though he _wants_ to stay and hang out with Sanghyuk, the football player convinces him otherwise.

The next day, Sanghyuk cycles to the rink again and takes a seat in the stands. It feels weird to be here alone. Maybe he got a little bit too used to Wonshik by his side. They had such a good time yesterday, it feels strange to not have someone to fanboy over Jaehwan with now.

He watches and claps politely for the other contestants, because they’re also doing programs that Sanghyuk could only ever _dream_ of doing. He’s incredibly impressed by everyone’s skill and grace, but they all pale in comparison to Jaehwan.

When Jaehwan steps on the ice again, this time in clothing reminiscent of a Hanbok, he oozes confidence and sexiness and Sanghyuk has to remind himself to breathe. The song is a beautiful mixture of western and eastern influences and Jaehwan flows over the ice like… Sanghyuk can’t find anything to compare him with. It seems like Jaehwan’s grace far surpasses anything he’s ever seen before.

Everything’s going great and Sanghyuk can almost feel Jaehwan’s relief with the fact that the program is almost over. Last night, Jaehwan told him that he’s doing a triple axel in the second half of his free skate and he has high chances of winning if he can land it in competition. One caveat: he’s only ever landed the triple axel twice, and only ever during practice.

Sanghyuk watches breathlessly as he sees Jaehwan speed up. He bites the inside of his cheek. He knows – at least partially – what pressure Jaehwan is under right now. He thinks it’s fair to equate it to a long and grueling match, where the score’s 2-2 and there’s only 5 more minutes on the clock…

The figure skater pushes himself up in the air and spins. It takes a few seconds before Sanghyuk realizes that something is wrong, and before he can do anything, Jaehwan falls.

He jumps to his feet, trying to see what happened.

Jaehwan is up again in seconds, but something seems _off_ and Sanghyuk can’t quite put his finger on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so sorry for the super long wait! I'm an awful author and I know it, but here's an update! 
> 
> (I'm also sorry for the cliffhanger, as soon as I post this, I'm going to continue writing, so as to make sure that you guys don't have to wait as long for the next chapter as you did for this one.)
> 
> Thanks for reading and please don't hesitate to tell me your thoughts! <3


	10. Purely platonic

Sanghyuk watches in horror as Jaehwan skates to the side of the rink. Is he not going to finish his program? He stares at the way the figure skater’s holding his left arm against his chest.

That can’t be good.

Just like the day before, Sanghyuk gets up to see if Jaehwan’s in the changing rooms. They were supposed to celebrate together once Jaehwan was done, but if Jaehwan is too badly hurt…

He has to text Wonshik, but what is he supposed to tell him? Sanghyuk shakes his head a little, trying to literally shake the anxiety off. He tries to think positive thoughts, like… maybe it’s not so bad, maybe Jaehwan is okay, maybe nothing’s wrong... But if it nothing is wrong, why would Jaehwan stop competing? Any professional athlete would continue if they could. So something _has_ to be wrong, and something has to be wrong _enough_ for Jaehwan to not be able to finish his program.

No one stops him from entering the changing room Jaehwan was in yesterday. It’s empty. Sanghyuk’s shoulders sag. He doesn’t know what to do: should he wait here, or should he go search for Jaehwan somewhere else? What if Jaehwan is already headed to the hospital? What if Jaehwan shows up unannounced in front of Wonshik and the doctor gets angry at Sanghyuk for not keeping him posted?

Sanghyuk sinks down on a nearby chair, rubbing his hands over his face and trying to keep breathing in and out steadily. He doesn’t think he’s ever been this worried about anyone before. So that must mean that he really is in love with Jaehwan. And even though that’s _heartbreaking_ , because Jaehwan has Wonshik, it’s also kind of nice to at least know _one_ thing for sure right now.

The door opens and Sanghyuk jumps up. Jaehwan enters. An EMT leads the figure skater to a seat and kneels in front of him to check out the skater’s wrist.

“Hyung?” Sanghyuk mumbles, edging closer to the two men.

Jaehwan looks up as if he’s pulled out of a daze. “Hyuk-ah.” He smiles, but the smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I almost landed the triple.”

“I saw.” The younger athlete assures with a wry smile. “Are you okay?”

“Just a broken wrist.” Jaehwan informs him, patting on the space beside him to get Sanghyuk to sit down, which he does.

“Do you have to go to the hospital?”

“I do, yeah. Which means we can visit Shikkie~” He sing-songs.

Sanghyuk chuckles, “I’m sorry about your program, hyung. You were doing great.”

Jaehwan shrugs, “I’m not gonna win now. I’ll just have to wait until I can get back on the ice, and win the next competition that comes along.”

“I’m sure you’re blow them all away, just like you did yesterday and today.”

“Thanks, Hyoggie.” Jaehwan leans his head on Sanghyuk shoulder and watches as the EMT bandages his wrist, so keep it secure until they get to the hospital.

Sanghyuk wishes he could do more for Jaehwan.

“Hey,” Jaehwan breaks the silence, “Remember when we first met? I _told_ you I’m super clumsy. I _told_ you I can’t go a week without a new injury.”

“You were right.” Sanghyuk laughs, but his heart is breaking.

“I’m always right!”

“Sure, hyung.” He reaches over to card his fingers through Jaehwan’s hair.

The EMT stands up after checking Jaehwan’s wrist one more time to make sure everything is in place. “Alright, Mr. Lee, you can head over to the hospital now.”

“Thank you.” Jaehwan grins at the EMT, who smiles back before leaving Sanghyuk and Jaehwan alone in the changing room.

“Where’s your trainer?” Sanghyuk wonders out loud.

“Oh, he had to sort some things with the staff. He said he’d text me once he’s got the car pulled up to drive me to the hospital.” Jaehwan stands up and pulls a large bag closer, zipping it open with one hand and searching for his phone. Once he’s got it, he checks his messages and smiles: “He says he’s ready for us.”

“Us?”

“You’re coming with, right?”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk replies, before adding, “I mean, only if you want me to…”

“Of course I want you to!” Jaehwan smiles, “But before that, can you help me out of my skates?”

Once Jaehwan’s wearing sneakers instead of ice skates and has his coat on, they walk over to the exit, where Cha Hakyeon is waiting in his car. Jaehwan’s trainer raises his eyebrows when Sanghyuk gets in the car with them.

“He came to find me in my changing room. I asked him to come with.” Jaehwan explains.

“I didn’t say anything.” Hakyeon counters with a smile while he keeps his eyes on the mirror to watch Sanghyuk for a couple of seconds.

“I, uh… I should text Wonshik.” The youngest among them stammers. He fishes his phone out of his pocket and pulls up his conversation with the doctor.

Jaehwan’s made himself comfortable, leaning his shoulder against Sanghyuk’s casually. With one last look from Hakyeon, they take off.

The car ride is quiet, and while that may be comfortable for Jaehwan and Hakyeon, Sanghyuk feels anything but at ease. He notices how Hakyeon sneaks the occasional glance at them from the driver’s seat and he doesn’t know what to do about it. He feels like Hakyeon can see right through him, into his soul. If the trainer finds out Sanghyuk likes Jaehwan, what would he say? They all know that Jaehwan is taken, and Sanghyuk would never want to jeopardize Jaehwan’s relationship with Wonshik. He’s made a drunken mistake once by trying to kiss Wonshik when he came over for fried chicken, and he’s not going to make the same mistake again. They’re friends. The relationship they have is purely platonic and he’ll just have to live with that.

They pull up in front of the hospital where Wonshik works. The doctor hasn’t seen Sanghyuk’s message yet, so Sanghyuk worries that their arrival will be a shock to Wonshik. Sanghyuk takes Jaehwan’s bag before Jaehwan gets out of the car.

They enter the hospital and walk to the emergency room.

“Sanghyuk?” He looks up to see Wonshik stand at a patient’s bed, watching Sanghyuk before his eyes shift to the men behind him. “Jaehwan-hyung? Hakyeon-hyung? Is everything okay?”

“I sent you a text…” Sanghyuk mumbles. “Jaehwan fell on the ice…”

“They’re pretty sure I broke my wrist. Can you check? I can wait until you’re done here.” Jaehwan adds cheerily.

“Yeah, sure…” Wonshik gestures to some chairs, “Take a seat, I’ll be with you in a second.”

Hakyeon walks off to make some calls and get started on paperwork already, while Jaehwan and Sanghyuk sit down. Sanghyuk watches Wonshik briefly before he turns his attention to Jaehwan: “How’s your wrist? Does it hurt a lot?”

“It’s fine. We just need to take a picture to see the fracture, and then they can get me a cast and I’m on my way.”

“Sounds like you’re an experienced patient.” Sanghyuk chuckles.

“I am.” Jaehwan grins back.

They joke around a little together. Sanghyuk is starting to see that joking and laughing makes it easier for Jaehwan to deal with what happened, rather than acknowledging the fact that he didn’t land the triple axel and is now in the emergency with a broken wrist.

Wonshik is still working, obviously, so they make small talk while he’s taking care of patients and paper work. After about 30 minutes of waiting, he kneels down in front of Jaehwan to examine his wrist.

Shortly after, Jaehwan and Wonshik leave to go have a picture taken of the fracture. While Sanghyuk waits for them to return, Jaehwan’s trainer takes a seat next to him. It seems like he’s taken care of everything he had to, because he leans back in his chair and closes his eyes.

“How are you holding up?” He asks Sanghyuk.

“I’m fine. Jaehwan-hyung seems okay, so…”

Hakyeon nods. “He likes you.”

“Sorry?”

“Jaehwan likes you a lot. I think that makes it both harder and easier on him to deal with everything. I don’t think he wants you to worry, but wouldn’t you be devastated if you had to throw in the towel after months of working up to a competition?”

“Yeah…”

“You’re an athlete too, right? Didn’t Jaehwan say you played football?”

“Yeah. You met my coach.”

“Ah, yes. Jung Taekwoon-ssi.” Hakyeon muses, his eyes still closed.

“That’s him.”

“Well. I hope you can stay around to keep Jaehwan company until he can get back on the ice. It’s always hard for athletes to…” He pauses, lost in thought for a second before he finishes his sentence: “To stop training or competing.”

“It really is. Even the couple days I was out because of a concussion threw me. I’ve never felt that bored in my _life_.” Sanghyuk chuckles.

Hakyeon opens his eyes and looks at Sanghyuk with a smile, but he doesn’t seem happy. “Exactly.”

“But doesn’t Jaehwan-hyung have Wonshik-hyung to keep him company?” He can’t stop himself from asking.

“I suppose he does… but two is better than one, don’t you think?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please tell me your thoughts on these new chapters, I'd love to hear what you guys think.


	11. Stop smiling

Hakyeon leaves once everything in the hospital is taken care of, whereas Sanghyuk and Jaehwan hang out at a nearby café until Wonshik’s shift is over. They joke around, laughing at how clumsy both of them can be.

Afterwards, Wonshik drives them to Jaehwan’s apartment. Sanghyuk had expected the two of them to live together, but apparently, they don’t. They all step out of their shoes and end up on Jaehwan’s sofa, with Sanghyuk – surprisingly – in the middle between Wonshik and Jaehwan. He’d tried to move to the side so Jaehwan and Wonshik could sit next to each other, but it hadn’t worked. So now he’s sitting on Jaehwan’s sofa, with Jaehwan’s head resting on his shoulder. Sanghyuk has to resist the urge to stroke his hair.

Briefly, he wonders if people who saw them now would think Sanghyuk and Jaehwan are together, rather than Wonshik and Jaehwan. What if he misheard when Jaehwan’s trainer said ‘boyfriend’, what if they’re not together after all, what if he still has a chance with one of—

“Hyung, do you want something to eat or drink?” Wonshik disrupts Sanghyuk’s train of thought.

“Um…” Jaehwan hums, “Hot chocolate?”

“Ooh! Me too, please!” Sanghyuk adds with a grin.

Wonshik gets up and heads into Jaehwan’s kitchen to prepare three mugs with hot chocolate. While they wait, Jaehwan shifts to rest his head on Sanghyuk’s lap. Without thinking, Sanghyuk cards his fingers through the older man’s hair. Jaehwan closes his eyes.

Sanghyuk thinks Jaehwan might fall asleep on him. And he wouldn’t mind if he did. He can’t help but be a little disappointed when Jaehwan sits up when Wonshik returns with hot chocolate for the two of them. He walks back to get his own before sitting next to Sanghyuk.

Now that they’re sitting quietly in Jaehwan’s living room, Sanghyuk can feel the stress and adrenaline dissipate to make place for exhaustion. He can only imagine how Jaehwan feels.

As Jaehwan leans against Sanghyuk again, Sanghyuk rests his head on Wonshik’s shoulder. He’ll just close his eyes for a second. He needs only a bit of a breather, and then he’ll drink the hot chocolate that’s warming his hands and head home. Hongbin will be worried. Or, well, he might be. Sanghyuk can also imagine Hongbin being relieved that he isn’t back yet: free at last from the demon child named Han Sanghyuk.

Sanghyuk wakes from his daze when Wonshik shifts beside him. He opens his eyes. Jaehwan is slumped against him, snoring a little as he gets some well-deserved rest. Sanghyuk looks up sleepily to see Wonshik answer the phone.

Wait. That’s not what Wonshik’s phone looks like. Or Jaehwan’s for that matter.

That’s his’.

“Yeah, Sanghyuk is here, don’t worry. He fell asleep on the sofa with Jaehwan-hyung.” Wonshik is quiet for a bit and Sanghyuk closes his eyes again. “Of course, whatever you want. I could bring him home…”

He’s calling with Hongbin?

“I can come get his stuff, or you could bring it over here. I can send you the address…” He’s silent for a few seconds.

“We can share Jaehwan’s bed.” Sanghyuk hears him say and he feels his cheeks warm at the thought. “It’s big enough, it wouldn’t be a problem… Yeah, I understand.” Another pause. “Yes, yeah. I’ll make sure of that.”

Wonshik’s footsteps head towards them and Sanghyuk hears the zipper of his bag open as Wonshik returns his phone to him. He isn’t sure if Wonshik is going to wake him up and send him home, but he’s pretty sure Hongbin has agreed to let him spend the night here.

“Hyung.” Wonshik’s talking to Jaehwan. Sanghyuk feels the weight of Jaehwan’s body against him lessen. What’s happening?

Sanghyuk opens his eyes a little to see Wonshik ready to lift Jaehwan up.

“Wonshik-hyung?” He mumbles.

“Hyuk-ah. I’m going to carry Jaehwan to bed. Come on, you should join too.”

“I’m staying?”

“Yeah, I talked to Hongbin about it, because he called you? He’s on his way to bring your bag, so you can head straight to practice from here tomorrow morning. I can drive you.”

“Right. Practice.” He’d completely forgotten.

“Oh. Can you clear the mugs? Just rinse them and put them in the sink.” Wonshik tells him before he lifts Jaehwan carefully and carries him to his bedroom.

Sanghyuk takes the mugs into the kitchen and washes the dishes piled up there. He has to pull open several cupboards to find where everything belongs, but eventually he’s put everything in the right place. Well, he hopes he has.

When he walks into the bedroom, he sees Jaehwan already has his shoes and socks removed. Wonshik is just pulling the covers over the figure skater to tuck him in.

“Here, I found some pajamas you can borrow. The bathroom’s right next to this room. Hongbin just texted that he’s almost here, so I’ll meet him downstairs to get your stuff. Then we can sleep.”

“Thanks. And tell Hongbin-hyung thanks too.”

“Will do.” Wonshik smiles. He steps out of the apartment.

Meanwhile Sanghyuk heads to the bathroom to change. He crawls under the covers next to Jaehwan once he’s ready for bed, but he doesn’t feel sleepy anymore.

Sanghyuk is lying on his back, staring at the ceiling when there’s a quiet knock on the door. The door opens and Wonshik enters. It’s dark in the living room now, Wonshik must have turned off all the lights.

It looks like Wonshik has also changed into pajamas. He closes the door behind him and gets into bed beside Sanghyuk after turning off the lights here too.

They both look at the ceiling.

“Hongbin is nice.” Wonshik whispers, so as not to wake Jaehwan.

“Yeah, he is.” Sanghyuk agrees in a hushed voice.

“What does he do?”

“He’s a photographer. He generally shoots editorials, I think?”

“Cool.” Wonshik shifts a little to get more comfortable.

“That’s how he met his boyfriend too.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Yeah. Gongchan-hyung. He’s a model. They met a couple years ago. I think Hongbin-hyung kind of wants to kick me out of our apartment, so he can live together with his bae.” Sanghyuk chuckles.

“You’re not together?”

“What?”

“You and Hongbin.” Wonshik clarifies, “You’re not together?”

“No, why would you think that?”

“You live together.”

“As roommates. It’s cheaper.”

“And you never clarified what your relationship to him is when I asked.”

“You asked?”

“I asked if he was your friend.”

“He is my friend.” Sanghyuk says, “I didn’t answer?”

“You just called him ‘Hongbin-hyung’.”

“Huh.”

“You didn’t realize that’s what I was asking about?”

“No. After all, you’re with Jaehwan-hyung. It’s not like it matters whether Hongbin-hyung and I are dating or not.”

“Sorry?” Wonshik asks.

“I tried to kiss you. You refused, ‘cause you and Jaehwan-hyung are dating.” Sanghyuk explains.

“No. I refused because I thought you and Hongbin were dating.”

“What?” Sanghyuk turns to face Wonshik. “So, you aren’t dating Jaehwan-hyung?”

“Well…”

“See? You’re together!”

Wonshik looks at him, a small smile playing on his lips.

“What are you smiling about?” Sanghyuk exclaims.

Jaehwan mumbles something in his sleep and turns around under the covers. Woops, maybe he was a little too loud.

“Sanghyuk-ah.” Wonshik grins.

“Stop smiling.”

Wonshik just looks at him. His smile only broadens, and Sanghyuk’s heart skips a beat.

“Stop it.” He hisses.

“I don’t want to.”

“Why are you smiling?” Sanghyuk asks, hitting Wonshik’s shoulder.

“No reason.”

“Stop smiling.”

“No.”

“Hyung, stop.” He whines.

Wonshik chuckles.

“Ah, _hyung_.”

“Kiss me.” Wonshik mumbles.

A pause.

“What?” Sanghyuk asks.

“Kiss me again.” He repeats.

It takes a while for Sanghyuk’s brain to process. “No, you and Jaehwan-hyung—”

“It’s okay. Just kiss me.” Wonshik says as he edges closer to Sanghyuk. Their noses brush against each other. Sanghyuk holds his breath.

Wonshik closes the gap between them, pressing his lips against Sanghyuk’s and bringing a hand up to tangle into Sanghyuk’s hair. Sanghyuk lets out a quiet sound, which makes Wonshik smile.

Oh my god, they’re kissing. _He’s kissing Wonshik_.


End file.
